NeneQuirer names its first UoN Journalist of the Year

The first NeneQuirer Journalist of the Year Award was presented to Kady Middleton on her graduation from the University of Northampton multi-media journalism course.

Kady achieved a first after being mown down by a drunk driver in a hit and run incident after her first year. She went through a period of hospitalisation and the ordeal of providing evidence in court to secure the conviction of the driver.

She said: “I feel very proud and honoured to be graduating. And the best part was my family watching from the audience and through the online live stream!”

NeneQuirer editor Steve Scoles said: “You cannot teach the kind of tenacity and grit that got Kady through these past couple of years. In a peer group of stellar young journalists she shone very brightly and will be a credit to the institution where she learned her trade.”

There were double (and, for some, triple) celebrations for some students during graduation week after they won awards for achievements in several subjects.

Awards were presented to students who had gone the extra mile and performed exceptionally well with their academic work during their time at University of Northampton.

Laura Wood, Bachelor of Arts in Childhood and Youth, received the Tony Smith-Howell Student Mentorship Memorial Award. Dedicating this to the lecturer who passed away recently, she said: “I can’t believe how quickly graduation has come around. All the hard work has finally paid off and it feels like the biggest achievement ever…made even more special by being chosen to receive the Tony Smith-Howell award!

“This is a real honour, he himself was such wonderful lecturer and mentor, to so many students both past and present, it is extraordinarily humbling to have been awarded it.”

Clare Wilkie, Bachelor of Laws, claimed two awards. She is the winner of the Northamptonshire Law Society Prize for the Best Student in Year Three and also received the Max Engel Memorial Bursary: “I am delighted to receive these awards; it is a great way to finish an enjoyable three years at Northampton.”

Helena Fenton, Bachelor of Arts in Acting, was the recipient of the Martin Lawrence Award for Best Female Actor: “absolutely over the moon to achieve a first in something I am so passionate about. It’s been an incredible three years and I have met the most wonderful people.”

Liam Faik, Bachelor of Arts in Acting, said: “To graduate from a course that has challenged, inspired, and changed me for the better is one of my proudest moments. What makes it better is the excellent teaching and the talent of my fellow graduates. The BA Acting course at Northampton has allowed me develop my craft with exciting, challenging and interesting modules and for that I will always be grateful. It has fully prepared me for life outside of university.”

Matthias Friedel, Bachelor of Science in Adult Nursing, was the winner of the Being Brilliant Jan Brown Award: “I am humbled and proud to receive the reward and hope to do it justice as a registrant through the care that I deliver to my patients.”

Bhavish Chutturdharry, Bachelor of Laws, was named winner of the Shoosmiths Prize for Outstanding Overall Contribution and Winner of the Oxford University Press Prize for Academic Achievement: “I am very proud to have successfully completed my LLB at the University of Northampton with First Class Honours coupled with two Awards for my Outstanding Overall Contribution and Outstanding Academic Achievement. My heartfelt thanks to all those who have contributed to such an achievement.”

Sophie Pueschel, Bachelor of Science in Mental Health Nursing, was named as the Being Brilliant Faculty Award: “I feel honoured and proud to receive this prestigious award. I would like to thank everyone who has supported me to get where I am today.”

The full list of award winners is:

Winner of the REMAP – Carpenter Award for Service Innovation: Jean Merrilees